


Whatever

by Texedo_Kamen



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Fluff, Found Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-20
Updated: 2019-09-20
Packaged: 2020-10-24 15:42:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20708489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Texedo_Kamen/pseuds/Texedo_Kamen
Summary: Nine years before Kingdom Hearts, a new family deals with a monster in the closet.





	Whatever

Yuffie hated this room. It was too big, too empty, too cold, too unfamiliar, and most of all, too lonely. 

Also, she was pretty sure there was a monster in the closet.

She hadn't actually seen it but that just meant it was a sneaky one. They were the scariest kind. 

She never wanted her own room, she was happier when they all shared one, but the rooms were there and Aerith thought it would be a good idea to use them and so here she was. With a monster in the closet. 

Fortunately, Yuffie knew something scarier than monsters. Even sneaky ones. She quietly slipped out of bed and snuck across the room, eyeing the closet warily. She headed out the door and down the hall to the next room over. 

She barely got to her second knock before a thud and a rush of footsteps came from the other side. Squall, gunblade in hand, threw open the door and glanced both ways down the hall before acknowledging her.

"What is it?"

"There's a monster in my closet."

In another time, another place, that kind of declaration from a six year old would call for nothing more than a head pat and a reassuring lie. 'There's no such thing as monsters, sweetie,' one might say. But those times and that place were gone forever. The old lies were no comfort anymore. They both knew monsters were real and sometimes they did hide in closets. 

There were still head pats though. And Squall's were the best. 

He could be cold, distant, and even mean sometimes but from the moment he pulled her from the rubble of her home, from her mother's cold embrace, and carried her away to this place, he had meant safety to her. 

The way he rustled her hair, just this side of too rough, the way the corners of his lips twitched just slightly, like he wanted to smile but had forgotten how, was more reassuring to her than any words could ever be. 

"Come on," he said, kneeling and holding out his arms. "Let's take a look."

He doesn't even get the words out before she barrels into him, throwing her arms around his neck and firmly attaching herself to him. 

Headpats were good. Getting carried was better.

Squall was the best at this too.

Holding her with one arm, his gunblade with the other, he headed down the hall to her door. He gently pushed it open with his foot and scanned the room with eyes that showed he was treating this matter with complete seriousness.

No danger in sight, he silently walked to the closet stopping a few steps away, and sat Yuffie down slowly.

"Stay behind me but stay close. If I tell you to run, go get Aerith and head to Cid's," he whispered to her. Yuffie wrinkled her nose. Cid smelled funny. 

Still, she nods. She didn't think it would come to that. She was pretty sure Squall was invincible. 

Satisfied with her obedience, a rare thing some days, he turned to the closet and carefully reached for the handle. He took a deep breath and slid the door open, gunblade at the ready.

Nothing.

Just a closet.

Squall didn't let his guard down though. He took a careful step in and checked the walls, the floor, the ceiling, the drawers, a few outfits hanging from the rod. 

Nothing. 

Just a closet.

He gave it another once over and searched the rest of the room. He even searched the covers and checked under the bed. 

Nothing. 

"It must have got away," Yuffie said, avoiding his gaze.

"......"

"It was a sneaky one."

Squall walked over and knelt in front of her.

"You did the right thing. Always trust your instincts and never hesitate to wake me if you think something isn't right. We can't take chances."

Yuffie wasn't used to hearing so many words from him in one moment but she remembered to nod anyway.

He looked into her eyes for a moment as if checking to see if she really understood before nodding and standing. 

More headpats. He really was the best at those.

He looked around a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. 

"I don't like the feel of this room either. Come on," he made a gesture toward the door and started out. 

She brought him to a halt with a firm tug on his shirt and answered his annoyed glance with upraised arms. 

".....Forget it. Your legs work."

Yuffie responded with a huff and her best pout. 

Hand on hip, he hung his head for a moment before giving his unmistakable, "You're going to get your way but I'm going to grouse about it," sigh. 

He made that sigh alot. 

He knelt and held out his arms.

Yuffie's face lit up like a beacon and she tackled him so hard he would've fallen over if he hadn't already gotten used to it and learned to brace.

He lifted her and headed down the hall, stopping at Aerith's door. He knocked brusquely, the door opening a moment later to reveal a bleary eyed Aerith sporting positively breathtaking bed hair. 

She went from half asleep to wide awake at the sight of Squall in bed clothes, gunblade in hand, carrying Yuffie. A sight altogether too reminiscent of that final, awful night.

Her suddenly racing heart slowed as she took in Yuffie's smiling face and the lack of urgency in Squall's demeanor.

"What's wrong?" Aerith asks, though she already suspected the answer.

It had been nearly a year since they came to this place with nothing but each other. At first, they all shared one room. Aerith and Squall taking shifts watching for heartless, unable to let go of the habits that kept them alive in the final days before their world ended. 

But there were no heartless in this place. Not yet anyway. Perhaps it was inevitable they would come here. Every day more stars went out and the nights grew longer and darker. But for now, it seemed this place was safe and they could live, at least for a time, without always looking over their shoulders. 

After a few months Aerith finally suggested they take advantage of the rooms in the house, letting each of them have a room for themselves. Squall was against it, not ready to let his guard down. Yuffie didn't seem too happy about it either but Aerith hoped adding some normalcy to their lives would help them begin to move on from the things they had lost. And right now might be the last chance at normalcy they would ever have. They should enjoy it while they could.

It seemed they still weren't ready.

Squall shuffled around a moment and averted his gaze, seeming almost embarrassed. 

"Nothing. Just a bad feeling. We should stick together tonight. Safer," he said, still avoiding her gaze, Yuffie nodding in agreement, absently playing with the lion necklace squall never seemed to take off. 

Aerith sighed, deciding not to make an issue of it. It was hard to scold them looking like that. Big, dour Squall with his big, scary gunblade cradling little Yuffie like she was the most precious thing in the world. Little Yuffie with her big eyes and bright smile clinging to Squall like he was a security blanket. 

They were adorable. 

"Alright. My room or yours?" 

"Squallie's!" Yuffie demanded. 

"It's Leon," Squall grumbled.

Yuffie stuck her tongue out at him to show what she thought of that.

"Alright, Leon's room it is." 

Squall's room was the one they used to share before but Aerith suspected Yuffie's preference had less to do with that and more to with Squall. Aerith almost felt left out by how attached to him the girl was and, though he tried very hard not to show it, how attached he was to the girl.

Back in Squall's room Yuffie cannonballed into the bed and burrowed into the covers. 

Squall had the best bed. It smelled like safety.

Aerith climbed into the bed beside her while Squall sat on the floor and leaned back against it, gunblade close at hand. He probably meant to watch over them for the rest of the night. Considering the mood Aerith decided it was best not to argue about it. There was an easier way to get him to sleep. 

She whispered something to Yuffie who nodded excitedly and jumped off the bed and landed hard in Squall's lap, audibly knocking the wind out of him. By the time he sorted out what had landed on him and whether he should be annoyed or not Yuffie had reached peak snuggles and was not to be dislodged. 

Squall was the best bed.

Aerith's barely stifled giggles told Squall all he needed to know about who was responsible for this. He let out a long suffering sigh and wrapped the already sleeping girl in a blanket he fished off the foot of the bed and, after a long hesitation, wrapped her in his arms for good measure.

It would cause problems if she caught a cold.

"You know, we're really lucky to have you, Leon," Aerith said quietly. 

Squall let out another sigh. The way he saw it, he was lucky to have them.

Yuffie murmured in her sleep and snuggled closer into his arms. Squall let out an unconvincing sigh. 

"Whatever."


End file.
